Carboxylated hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HXNBR), prepared by the selective hydrogenation of carboxylated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (a co-polymer containing at least one conjugated diene, at least one unsaturated nitrile, at least one carboxylated monomer and optionally further comonomers) is a specialty rubber which has good heat resistance, excellent ozone and chemical resistance, and excellent oil resistance. Coupled with the high level of mechanical properties of the rubber (in particular the high resistance to abrasion) it is not surprising that XNBR and HXNBR have found widespread use in the automotive (seals, hoses, bearing pads), oil (stators, well head seals, valve plates), electrical (cable sheathing), mechanical engineering (wheels, rollers) and shipbuilding (pipe seals, couplings) industries, amongst others.
Improvements in the properties of HXNBR are constantly sought, and often for this purpose new and unconventional additives and compounds are mixed or blended with HXNBR.
Fluorinated chemicals are used in several consumer, commercial, and industrial applications due to the very unique characteristics they possess such as: inertness, low surface energy, chemical resistance, low coefficient of friction, and surface lubricity. These additives are usually used in polymer compounding and are known to improve: processibility, flow, mixing quality, additives' dispersion, and compound properties such as wear and abrasion resistance. Commercially available fluorinated additives include Fluorogaurd® PRO and Fluoroguard® FSM.